Humanities Desk radio history literature art religion Nebraska life George Flippin Stromsburg football player doctor black African-American culture cultural understanding

Memorial Stadium fills with thousands of Nebraska football fans for the annual spring scrimmage. There's a special measure of pride for small towns in Nebraska represented by a player on the field. Jerry Johnston has this story of one Nebraska...

Segment from Episode 1The story of Tina Vanderpool, a bronc- and bull-rider. Vanderpool came late to the sport of rodeo, but works hard to improve her skills and fearlessly throw her hat in the rodeo ring.

Segment from Episode 1Like the Dust Bowl, with its blinding black winds that lasted for years, or the biblical plague of locusts, the 1949 blizzard raged from January through the spring. The monumental drifts it left in its wake finally...

Segment from Episode 1Before 1940, African Americans were barred from flying for the U.S. military. But in 1941, an Army Air Forces (formerly Army Air Corps) program was started in Tuskegee, Alabama to train African Americans to fly and...

Segment from Episode 1Nebraska poet and essayist, Ted Kooser, the 13th U.S. Poet Laureate, reads from his collection of poems recording the devastation unleashed on the Great Plains by the Jan. 12, 1888 blizzard. The Blizzard Voices is based on...

Segment from Episode 1Gerit Grimm was born and raised in Germany. Her exposure to the culture of the United States was gained solely through viewing American cinema. The act of joining this American lifestyle, bridging the gap between movie...

Nebraska Stories Two Convicts in a Haystack video television tv segment clip special magazine Bucklin Poet Laureate Ted Kooser Lavicky Hrnicek NE story Great Plains Dwight Lincoln state people history historic historical event events life blizzard...

Segment from Episode 1A story told by Ted Kooser (Garland, NE), John Lavicky, and Herb Hrnicek (Dwight, NE). In one of the many snow storms that struck the Great Plains in 1949, two convicts of the penitentiary in Lincoln escaped and walked to...

Volunteering to dance with soldiers at USO clubs was supporting the troops. Dancing with strangers was a risk to your reputation. That was the balance that young women and the USO had to strike. Jerry Johnston reports.

Nebraska's World War II veterans have been visiting the World War II Monument in Washington courtesy of the Honor Flight program. Last weekend, there was a final reunion of the Honor Flight veterans. There was also another reunion - a small group...

Forty years ago, North Omaha broke out in riots at the news that a 14-year-old Black girl was shot and killed by a police officer. Now, for the first time, Strong's sister talks about the events that left a permanent mark on Omaha's predominantly...

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Homestead National Monument near Beatrice became a courtroom for a special ceremony this past Flag Day. Twelve people raised their right hand, swore allegiance to the United States of America, and became citizens. Jerry Johnston prepared this audio...

Hastings College Music Professor Robin Koozer talks about his hometown piano teacher, and the difference piano teachers make in Nebraska's cultural life. Koozer is the scholar in residence for New Harmonies, a travelling exhibit highlighting music...

A new novel by the editor of a prominent literary journal is set in the Nebraska Sandhills. The main character, a young woman who loves ranching, has to built a new life after a tragic car accident. NET Radio's Jerry Johnston interviews the author,...

People in Afghanistan will vote for their next president on 8/20/09. The US has increased its military presence, and the Taliban has promised to disrupt voting. Earlier this year, former NPR Afghanistan correspondent Sarah Chayes was in Nebraska....